Dry-powder duster



March 24, 1925.

F. L. SESSION? DRY POWDER DUSTER Filed March 4, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet livy Emma" March 24, 1925.

. Q 1,530,578 F. L. SESSIONS DRY POWDER DUSTER Filed March 4, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 24,- 1925.

FRANK L. SESSIONS, OF LAKEWOOD, OHIO.

DRY-POWDER DUSTER.

Application filed March 4, 1922. Serial No. 541,157.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. SESSIONS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lakewood, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Dry-Powder Dusters, ofwhich the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to apparatus for dusting plants, shrubs, vines,trees or other vegetation with dry insecticide powder and isparticularly adapted to the dusting of cotton plants with arsenate ofcalcium. My invention may also be used for the sowing of grass or otherseed broadcast.

The principal objects of my invention are: the provision of a new anduseful apparatus for mixing finely divided materials such as insecticidepowder with air and discharging the mixture from the apparatus in acloud upon or in the vicinity of the plants to be dusted; the provisionof a dry powder duster in which thepowder is carried in a magazine orhopper and in which the air, which is to convey the powder into theatmosphere, is caused to pass through the magazine or hopper over thepowder which it contains and to pick up and carry with it powder fromthe magazine to the suction and distributing fan; the provision of meansfor agitating the powder in the magazine so that the air passing throughmay readily carry off the particles thrown into the air above the bodyof powder in themagazine; the provision of means whereby thedust-density of the air which passes to the distributing fan may bevaried and controlled; the provision of a dry powder duster in which theair which is caused to mingle with the dust in the magazine is suckedthrough the magazine so that there is no tendency for the dust to beblown back into the face of the operator but all of it is carried outthrough the distributing fan and is discharged away from the operator;and the provision of a new and improved suction and distributing fan.These and other objects of my invention are attained by the use of theapparatus herein described and shown in the accompanying drawings inwhich- Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a machine embodying my invention; 7

Fig. 2 is an elevation looking into the discharge end of the fan;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line III III of Fig. '2;

Fig. 4 is a plan View partly in section on line IVIV-of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section on line V-V of Fig. i;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a machine having a modified form'of cover andan air intake opening in the wall of the receptacle; and

Fig. 7-is a section on line VIIVII of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a receptacle adapted to containa supply of the powder to be dusted or other material to be sownbroadcast. \Vhile it is possible to make this receptacle 1, in a varietyof ways I prefer that it be of the shape shown in the drawings in whichthe upper portion, 1, is a cylindrical shell with its axis ver tical andthe lower portion, 1", is a cylindrical shell with its axishorizontal.The ends of the lower portion, 1 are closed preferably by plates such asare shown at 2 and 3. Plates 2 and 8, may be made of heavier metal thanis used for the cylindrical portions of the receptacle in order tostiffen the structure and provide suitable supports for the bearings ofthe shafts which carry the driving gears. The top of the receptacle maybe partially closed by a cover plate such as that shown at 4. This coverplate may be provided with an air inlet opening, 5, preferably at itscenter. The cover plate, 4, as shown in. the drawings, is madefunnel-shape to facilitate filling the receptacle and to deliver theentering air below the mixture outlet, 6, of the receptacle and directlyinto the thick of the material that has been thrown up by the agitatorwhich is described herein. If desired an imperforate cover, such as isshown in Fig. 6, may be employed and the air inlet opening may belocated in the wall of the receptacle as shown at 39. The opening, 39,may be made to admit air tangentially to the receptacle to augment thewhirling motion of the mixture which motion tends to break up any lumpsor globules of powder which may be thrown up by the agitator.

A perforated screen such as that shown at 5 may be placed over the airintake opening and secured in any convenient preferably detachablemanner, the object of this screen being to prevent 'the air fromcarrying leaves, twigs, insects and other objectionable materials intothe receptacle that might interfere withthe etiicient working of themachine when in operation.

A fan intake-duct, 7, is provided and is connected to the outlet, 6, ofthe receptacle, 1. The outlet, 6, is preferably located near the top ofthe receptacle and so as to direct the outgoing mixture in a directiontangential to the receptacle. At one end of duct, 7, a fan housing, 8,is provided, this fan housing having an end platewith a fan inlet, 9,opening into the duct, 7. A fan-shaft, 10, extends longitudinallythrough the duct, 7, and is mounted for rotation in suitable bearings,11, 12. Bearing 11, is preferably supported by a bracket, .11, securedto an extension, 13, of the fan housing, 8, while bearing, 12, ispreferably supported by plate, 2. A fan, 14, is mounted upon shaft 10,and secured to it for rotation within the housing, 8. For varying andcontrolling the amount of material blown out by the fan, or, inotherwords, for regulating the feed of the machine I prefer to employ adamper such as isv shown at 15. The damper, l5, isadapted to vary thes-izeof a secondary air inlet opening, 15, which permits air which hasnot passed through the supply receptacle toenter the fan intake. Theopening 15 which valve, 15, controls is preferably madein the wall ofduct, 7, between the openings, 6 and 9, but may be located in any otherconvenient place so long as it admits air which. has not passed throughthe receptacle to the intake of the fan. Any suitable valve -or dampermay be employed for controlling the admission of air through thesecondary air inlet so as to give the desired dust density to the airdischarged 'by the fan. In the drawings 1 have shown a damper of thesliding plate type in which, 15, is a plate which fits the outer surfaceof the duct, 7, and is adapted to slide thereon over the secondary airopen-.

ing and to be setin any position whichgives the opening required. Thedamper plate, 15, may be slidably mounted in grooved or slotted guides,15 which may frictionally engage the plate, 15, to hold it in adjustedposition over the secondary air inlet open ing, 15 Any suitable meansmay be provided for operating the damper plate, 15.,

In the drawings I have shown an outwardly projecting flange, 15, bymeansof which the damper may be moved by hand.

Fan shaft, 10, and fan, 14-, may be ro-. tated by any convenient means,In the drawings this means comprises :a speed-multiplying train ofgears, 16, 17,18 and 19, the first of which, gear, 16, is adapted to berotated by means of a crank, 20, and crank handle, 21. Gear, 1 61, ismounted upon and secured to rotate with ashaft, 22, which has bearings,23 and 24, in the end plates or heads, 2 and 3 respectively, of thelower portion, 1", of receptacle, 1. Gear, 16, meshes with a piniongear, 17, which is secured to large gear, 18. Pinion, 17, and gear, 18,are together revolubly mounted upon a fixed stud, 25, carried by plate,2. Gear, 18, meshes with a pinion, 19, which is mounted upon and hasdriving connection with fan shaft, 10.

An agitator, 26, is mounted upon shaft, 22, and is secured to it forrotation by it. This agitator preferably consists of a pair of hubs, 27,28, having radial arms, 29 and 30, the outerends of which arms supportlongitudinalbars, 31, preferably in the form of twisted wire and bristlebrushes of well known constructionwhich are clearly shown in Fig. 3. Inthe drawings only two such bars are shown, but it will be understoodthat any number may beemployed that will produce the desired agitationof the mate rial, It will be observed that the bars, 31, form arevolving brush whichsweeps close to the vbottom of thereceptacle, 1, sothat it will perform its functionias long as any material remains in thereceptacle. It will be seen thatthe agitator, 26, is in the form of a Ushaped bail, or a plurality-of such bails, secured to the shaft, 22, sothat when the shaft is rotated, the agitator sweeps through the materialclose to the bottom of the receptacle and virtually progressively seversthe material at the botton'rand-sides fromits support. As the bails intheir rotation rise out of the material, they throw some of it into theair. above the top of the massthat is -,in the receptacle and itisentrained in and carried along by the air into the fan intake;- duct,7 VVhi le other. forms of agitators have been gproposedand I have triedanumber of, them, I prefer the form shown and described herein for thereason that the ma terial in the receptacle, cannot arch 'or bridge overthe agitator or fail to fall into the space through which the agitatorhas passed as happens with agitators which do not either continuouslymove all of the material in the vreceptacle or donot completely n10-mentarily sever the material from its support. Agitators whichcontinually move all of the :material in the receptacle require too muchpower to drive, them, and those in the form of discs 'or radial armswhich merely cut through :the material do not operate satisfactorily onaccount of the inherent tendency of powdered or granular materials topack andv form self-sustaining walls which do not fall i-ntothe spandescribed by the agitator so as to ,be acted upon the next time itpasses. By providing-an agitator in the form of-a revo'lu-ble bail topass progressively under practically all of the material at eachrevolution o-f the agitator shaft, a minimum of power is consumed andthe material is fed at a reliably constant rate.

It will be seen that my agitator is in the form of a skeleton paddle orbeater which sweeps under practically all of the material at eachpassage and that it will perform its function so long asthere is anymaterial left in the receptacle. The agitator should be rotated at sucha speed and have such a number of bails that the desired amount ofmaterial will be thrown into the air which is passing through thereceptacle. I prefer to mount the agitator bails upon the shaft to whichthe crank is attached as I have found .that in a hand-power machine thenumber of revolutions per minute that a man can turn the crank in normalworking effort is from thirty to forty, and with the agitators shown inthe drawings, a suitable amount of material is thrown into the air atthis speed. .7 The machine shown in the drawings is adapted to becarried by the operator by means of shoulder straps, 32, and belt, 33.A. suitable body brace, 34, maybe provided and it may be secured to themachine in any convenient manner, preferablyby brackets such as areshown at I I prefer to make the extended portion, 13, of the housing, 8,tapered or funnel-shape in form, while the body portion, 8 of thehousing, 8, is preferably made cylindrical in form. lindrical portion,8, of the housing, 8, extends about one half the width of the blades offan, 14, the remaining approximate half of the width of the bladesextending outward into the funnel-shape extension, 13, of housing, 8. Iprefer also to provide a baffle plate or shroud, 36, at the outer end ofthe fan, 14, in order to obstruct the entrance of air from the dischargeside of the fan into the space described by it. This plate, 36, is shownas an integral portion of the hub of fan, 14, but it will be understoodthat if desired it may be made separate from the hub, 14, and otherwisesupported as for instance by the stationary arms, 11", which support thehearing, 11. The blades of the fan, 14, the walls, 8, and 13, of thehousing and the baflie plate, 36, all tend to break up any lumps ofmaterial that are carried by the air and to thoroughly mix the air andparticles of material.. a

It will be understood that if the fan, 14,

is of the plain centrifugal type such as is shown in the drawings, asdistinquished from the propeller type of fan, it will tend to dischargeits output in the plane ofwrotation of the fan. The funnel-shapeextension of the fan housing is provided to defleet and direct theoutput of the fan parallel to the axis of the fan in the direction itwould be propelled by a propeller type of fan.

eeptacle, 1, is filled with the material to be sown broadcast up toabout the level indi- As shown in the drawings the cycated by line, 87,which is short of the top of the circle described by the brushes, 31, ofagitator, 26. Assuming that the receptacle is thus loaded with materialto be sown broadcast and that it is strapped to the operator, theoperation of the apparatus is as follows :The operator turns the drivingcrank, 20, by means of handle, 21. The operators efforts transmittedthrough the speed-multiplying train of gears, 16, 17, 1S and 19, rotatesthe fan, 14, at a high speed which causes air to enter the opening, 5,pass through the empty upper portion of receptacle, 1, through opening,6, into duct, 7, through the space described by the fan, 14, through thehousing, 8, S, and extension, 13, into the atmosphere. The rotation ofcrank, 20, also causes the slow rotation of shaft, 22, and with :it theagitator, 26. As the agitator, 26, ,is rotated in the receptacle thebrushes, 31, stir the material and throw it upward into the empty spaceat the top of the receptacle. Part of the material so raised isentrained in the stream of air which is passing through the receptacleand is carried onward through fan, 14, and discharged with the conveyingor scavenging air in the form of a cloud into the atmosphere. If it isdesired to reduce the density of the cloud which is discharged by fan,14, the check damper, 15, may be opened more or less to permitpreviously unmixed air to enter the duct, 7, through this damperopening. The opening of this secondary air inlet innnediately reducesthe amount of air that is drawn through receptacle, 1, and the air whichenters the secondary inlet dilutes the mixture in the stream which ispassing through duct 7, into the space described by the fan, 14, so thatthe resultant cloud is of less density than'it would be if the damper,15, were closed. 7

It is obvious that by suitably proportioning the apparatus the desirednormal density of the output of fan, 14, may be secured when the damper,15, is partly open. Vith the apparatus so proportioned the clouddensity, of the output of the fan, 14, may be increased by furtherclosing the damper, 15, or it may be diminished by further openingdamper, 15, from its normal, partially'open, position. a

' WVhile it is possible to admit the entering air into the empty upperportion of receptacle, 1, in other than a vertically downward directionas, for instance, tangentially through such an opening as is shown at inFigs. 6 and 7, I have found that a central vertical inlet, like inletopening, 5, produces excellent results. I have also found-that it isadvantageous to connect duct, 7, so that the air leaves receptacle, 1,tangentially,as In the operation of my invention the resuch anarrangement tends to give the air passing through the receptacle awhirling motion which seems to be well adapted to n ur pick up andentrain the materials as they are thrown up by the agitator brushes, 31.The duct, 7, may however, be connected to the receptacle in other than atangential relation.

An in'iperlorate cover, 40, may be employed for the receptacle shown inFigs. 6 and 7, and should be made removable for filling the receptacle.

For the receptacle shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3,

and 4, a protecting cover such as that shown.

at 41 may be provided to prevent water from the foliage of plantsWl1l.Cl1,I113.-y be encountered by the apparatus from entering thepowder receptacle. Openings such as shown at 42 may be provided byspaced supporting clips, 43, to permit air to enter the receptacle whilethe cover is in place.

The embodiment of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings anddescribed herein is especially adapted to dusting rows of plants such ascotton or tobacco plants, berry bushes, shrubs, small trees, etc. Thedischarge of the cloud to the side of the operator makes it convenientfor the operator.

to walk between the rows of plants continually operating the machine andsending out a cloud of dust over one or more rows of plants. It isobvious that the discharge end of the housing, 1'3, 1nay he deflected ordirected at an incline downward so as to cover a single row. of plantsif desired. I have found however, that for the economical useofinsecticide powder, particularly in the use of calcium arsenate in thedusting of 1. In apparatus of theclass described, a.

receptacle adapted to contain a supply of material to be sown broadcast,said receptacle having an air inlet adapted to direct the entire supplyof entering air -downward-' ly upon the top of the material in thereceptacle, a stirrer for lifting the material up into saiddownwardly-directed supply of air and a mixture outlet opening from thespace above the material in the receptacle, and a revoluble fan adaptedto draw air through said air inlet, said receptacle and said mixtureoutlet, and discharge it into the atmosphere.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a receptacle adaptedtocontain a supply of powdered material to be scattered broadcast, saidreceptacle having ,an air-inlet above the normal level ofthe material tobe scattered and a mixture-outlet also opening fromithe space above thematerial and out of alinement with said air-inlet, the space betweensaid air-inlet and mixture-outlet being substantially unobstructed,stirrer, and means for creating a suction throughsaid air-inlet, saidreceptacle above the material and said mixture-outlet to therebydischarge the entrained powdered material into the atmosphere.

3. 111 apparatus of the class described, a receptacle adapted to containasupply of material to be sown broadcast, said receptacle having an airinlet and a mixture out? let, a revoluble fan having its intakeconnected to said mixture outlet, said fan being adapted to dischargeits output into the atmosphere, and means for admitting air which hasnot passed through said receptacle into the intake of said fan.

4. In apparatus of the .classdescribed, a receptacle adapted to containa supply of material to be sown broadcast, said receptacle havingan airinlet and a mixture .outlet, a revoluble fan adapted to draw air throughsaid inlet, said receptacle and said mixture outlet, and discharge itinto the atmosphere, and means for admitting air which has not passedthrough said re e)- tacle into the space described by said fan.

5. In apparatus .ofthe class described, a receptacle adapted to containa supplyof dry, powdered or. granular material to be sown broadcast,said receptacle having an air inlet and a mixture out'let bothpositioned near the .top of the receptacle above the top of. thematerial therein, means for agitating said material in said receptacleso as to throw portions of it into the space above the topoftheinaterial, and means for causing air to enter said air inletandgpassout of said mixture outlet carrying with it portions ofthematerial thrown up by said agitating means, said inlet being in thetop wall of the receptacle, which top wall is dished inwardly to form.afilling :l'u-nnel.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a

receptacle adapted to contain a supply of material to be sown broadcast,said recep- .tacle having anair inlet and a mixture outlet, .a revolublefan, a housing for said fan provided with a tan .inlet,,a ductconnecting said mixture outlet and said fan inlet, said duct having anopening adapted to admit air which has: not passed through saidreoeptacle.

.7. Inapparatus of the class described, a receptacle adapted to containa supply of material .to be sown broadcast, said receptaclehaving an airinlet and a mixture out let, a revoluble fan, a housingfor said fanhaving a fan inlet, a duct connecting said mixtureoutlet with said faninlet, said duct having an opening to admit air which has not passedthrough said receptacle, and means for varying the size of said opening.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a receptacle adapted to containa supply of dry material to be sown broadcast, said receptacle having anair inlet and a mixture outlet both positioned above the top of thematerial in the receptacle, a revoluble fan adapted to draw air throughsaid inlet, said receptacle and said mixture outlet and discharge itinto the atmosphere, and means for agitating the material in saidreceptacle, said means comprising a revoluble bail mounted for rotationin said receptacle, and adapted to pass through the material toprogressively separate it from the bottom and sides of said receptacleand to throw portions of the material into the space above it and intothe passing stream of air, said inlet being formed centrally in the topWall of the receptacle, which Wall extends inwardly to bring the inletto a level nearer to the material than the outlet.

9. In an apparatus of the class described, a powder chamber consistingof a horizontal cylinder, a mixing chamber mounted on the powder chamberand being in the form of a vertical cylinder, this mixing chamber havinga tangential outlet pipe, a fan in the outlet pipe having a shaftextending through this outlet pipe and the mixing chamber, a stirrer inthe cylindrical powder chamber having a shaft extending out at one endthereof, and gearing for simultaneously driving said shafts.

10. In apparatus of the class described, a revoluble fan, a housing forsaid fan comprising an end plate having an inlet opening at one end ofsaid fan, a cylindrical portion surrounding said fan throughout aportionof the Width of its blades and a funnelshape, open-end extensionprojecting over that part of said fan not encompassed by saidcylindrical portion adapted to deflect and direct the output of saidfan.

11. In apparatus of the class described, a revoluble fan, a housing forsaid fan comprising an end plate having a fan inlet opening, acylindrical portion surrounding a portion of the periphery of said fanand a funnel-shape, open-end extension projecting from said cylindricalportion over that portion of said fan not encompassed by saidcylindrical portion adapted to deflect and direct the output of saidfan, and a baflle plate between said fan and the open end of saidextension.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FRANK L. SESSIONS.

